


To fall is to either drown or burn

by artsyfartsyWrites



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-11 19:21:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19933207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artsyfartsyWrites/pseuds/artsyfartsyWrites
Summary: This is a short one shot of my WOL and a small thing that happens with Haurchefaunt.For Caelum falling was like drowning in a deep sea yet it also burned.





	To fall is to either drown or burn

**Author's Note:**

> I just finished Heavensward. I hurt so this is a way to cope. I love Haurchefaunt and as did my WOL, Caelum.
> 
> Caelum is a Monk class Miqo'te.

It had been a hard won victory. The task, not quite as meaningful to Caelum as it was to who had asked it from him. Whispers among Ishgard had been foul when he, Alphinaud and Tataru had arrived as guests of the Fortemp house but had slowly begun to change as the three worked about the city and personally began to change them. Caelum, not being as silver tongued (at least to their knowledge) as the other two went about doing the only thing he knew he could. Work hard.  
  
This last hunt he had gone on proved just a bit more challenging than the former request but he had figured it would be. Fighting lesser dragons alone was somewhat stupid considering the entire land was at war with the kind. As he trudged back to Falcon’s Nest, leaving the thick snow and sharp claw he decided that he wouldn’t take another hunt in the Coerthas landscape alone again. The job was done and the money he’d earn from it would add to the million he had stashed away till he’d someday decide to maybe build a place for himself.   
  
Out of the cold. And the wet. And the Gods forsaken ice.   
  
He nearly busted his ass when he hit the cobblestone at the Nest. Ice had all but frozen his boots and pants stiff. His concern for the wonderful gifted black chocobo, he’d taken to calling Astrum, was to blame for the biting pain he was feeling in his feet. Caelum kept his pain to himself and kept moving till he decided that the cost for the jump wasn’t worth losing his toes to bite.

Returning to the Foundation and collecting his prize was easy, trying not to get stopped and lead onto another task, not so much. The work they did was like a double edged sword. Sure they had established a good name but at the same time if he had to return to the Fortemp manor covered in ichor again he was going to scream. Caelum refrained from pressing his fingers to his eyes as a headache began to bloom at the front.  
  
The guards at the entrance had always been pleasant to them, a bit more so after Tataru had thanked every one that had changed shifts with warm drinks. So instead of the simple question and cold stare they had softened and some even smiled. Tonight however was the only one Tataru had yet to win over. He was younger than Caelum’s age of 27 but acted like a grouchy elder.   
  
He barely managed to ask to going inside before the door was thrown open and a familiar voice made him forget about the ice.   
  
“Caelum, my dear friend, what are you doing out here? Come inside by the fire.” Haurchefant exclaimed delightedly and nearly swept Caelum off his feet.   
  
Caelum laughed and allowed himself to be whisked up in the whirlwind of sound, smell and touch that was Haurchefant.   
  
“What brings you all the way from Dragonhead?”   
  
“Ah but to see my darling warrior of light but of course.” He smiled in that too familiar way and never failed to prickle lightning down Caelum’s back.   
  
Caelum gave him a small smile and shook out his tail on the thresh so the maids wouldn’t have to clean up too much ice.   
  
“Okay okay, work. Not that seeing you isn’t a rare joy.” Haurchefant purred and laughed when Caelum tail puffed slightly only to relax just as quickly.   
  
“You’re returning then?” Caelum tried to keep the disappointment out of his voice.   
  
He enjoyed Haurchefant. His company, flirtations, the never wavering loyalty was reassuring in the small fact that it would never change and he could always count on it. Even if his gazed tended to linger to the point Caelum found himself squirming hot but maybe that was also comforting.   
  
“Not tonight. I’ll be residing here. There’s a storm just beyond the gates and I don’t want to risk our birds or men getting swept up in it.” He shook his head. “But enough with that you look completely soaked through and here we are just gabbing away from the fire. Come come.”   
  
Together they ventured into the home, towards the personal rooms, chatting about their missions and reassuring each other off handedly that they were alright. Caelum was at least. You think he had told Haucherfaunt he had gotten gravely injured with how pale the man grew and his hands flying to him.   
  
“Caelum, being whacked by a tail isn’t some small hit. You could have truly been hurt.”   
  
“Twasn’t far that I went.” Caelum mumbled and tried not to tense as Haurchefant's hands clamped down on to the tender flesh his shoulder had become.   
  
Haurchefant snorted and took hold of Caelum’s hand and slipped them into the room gifted to Caelum. The room was warm, a fire already burning heat into the stone. A small low table and high backed chair sat in front of it and with a wide gap between a large canopied bed, covered in thick quilts and furs. There was a dresser and a few trunks and bookcases about that Caelum had managed to take in before the was eased into the chair.   
  
“Haurchefant, I’m not hurt. It’ll be nothing more than a bruise by morrow.” Caelum hurried to explain as the man knelt by his side. Embarrassment and an odd sensation in his chest making his breathe catch.   
  
“Then it won’t be a problem for me to inspect. I may not be a chirurgeon but I do know some first aid.” He was staring hard at Caelum, the sharp blue of his eyes a little unfocused. “I have seen good men die from things that they have claimed to be but bruising. So please, my precious friend, allow me this small bit of reassurance?”   
  
Caelum felt his face flush and chest flutter as it always tended to do when Haurchefant spoke too serious with him. The subtle change in his voice and body coupled with the pleading made Caelum’s resolve and pride weak. Unable to trust his voice he simply nodded and tightened his hands on to the arms of the chair.   
  
It wasn’t supposed to be sensual. It wasn’t supposed to cause heat to flare and pool low in his gut but watching and feeling Haurchefant slowly undo and peel back the layers of his coat, armor, and soft tunic had Caelum burning hot. He kept his head turned towards the fire, worried that if he met the lord’s gaze he would have caught a flame and burned them both.   
  
The first prod of fingers, gloveless fingers made Caelum jump so bad they both had to take a breath to calm themselves.   
  
“Forgive me, my hands might be a tad chilled.” Haurchefant murmured, not completely on purpose, low into his ear causing it to twitch and bat the man’s cheek. He merely chuckled and casually brushed his cheek against it in return. Caelum had shortly decide that if he should survive this he truly was blessed.   
  
When hands found his shoulder again, just where the flesh had already begun to turn sickly in a blotched mass of greens and yellows they didn’t jump.   
  
“No, not at all. They burn.” Caelum whispered mostly to himself, lost in the simple feeling of someone else’s touch.   
  
Hearing Haurchefant's breath catch again Caelum glanced up worried he may have found something he didn’t feel. The sight he saw was quite different. The color of his eyes, the usual bright blue had gone darker and hiddened slightly beneath thick lashes. Color rose in both of their cheeks and with a tad too much force Haurchefant moved to press against his collar.   
  
Shoulder, collar, sternum were checked carefully methodically and for a moment Caelum had relaxed to the menstrations with mixed feelings. Hands slipped around the lower part of his ribs and slid upward under his peck. It lifted and Caelum couldn’t stop the soft gasp slipping from his mouth.   
  
“Painful?” Haurchefant asked quietly.   
  
“No.” Caelum replied quickly. Face turned towards the floor to hide.   
  
He blinked when ice blue hair slipped in front of his face and he was drawn into an arch in the chair. Hands ran up his back, skimming over the occasional scar and brushed over the back of his bruised shoulder. It was quick and so easily done it had moved Caelum to the edge of the chair and nearly into the lord’s lap. As quickly as that thought had come had Caelum truly begun to notice he had started to fall.   
  
This warm hearted knight on the edge of this icy world. The burning light in a dark time for him and companions. His heart was slamming into his ribs as he shifted from acknowledging to accepting in as simple as covering Haurchefant’s hand with his own. When the man shifted back to look at him Caelum offered a soft smile.   
  
“See, naught but bruising. I am alright, Haurchefant.”   
  
Haurchefant looked slightly lost in surprise for a moment before he relaxed and smiled in turn. “You are right as usual, my friend.”   
  
Caelum held onto Haurchfant’s hand, tightening it only briefly when the man inched slightly back. When he knew he was watching him he brought it to his cheek and nuzzled into it. “Thank you for caring enough to doubt. Not many do.”   
  
Haurchefant knelt again. “Doubt your honesty or care?”   
  
Caelum hummed and turned his face to the fire, in turn his lips to the palm still within reach. “The former I think. Though at a time I could say both. Time has changed a lot.”   
  
Caelum felt his foot being lifted and he jerked back in surprise. Haurchefant merely soothed his surprise with a gentle stroke on the top of his foot and worked at his boot. “Haurchefant, I can do that. You don’t ....”

  
He felt the words die in his throat when the lord continued as if he never spoke. Gentle working his boot off and proceeding to the other. “You deserve to be pampered my friend. You have done so much for me and I, you so little. Pray give me this at least.”   
  
Caelum had no idea how to say no to that. He felt as if he was getting drawn out to sea and into the dark depths. Part of him, the small scared part of him when on unfamiliar ground, wanted to run. Remain where they were. Yet the other, the one that had always ruled him kept singing softly to give in, submit to what he felt and allowed these small moments of peace.   
  
So he did.   
  
Inch by inch till he was consumed. 


End file.
